The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-03-17


river deicnses, that forts were almost useless.
About the 2Sth of April, l-G2, Farragut's
fleet steamed up along the city front, bear
ing the Stars and Stripes, which had not
been seen for year in that port. The flag
ship anchored off Canal street, while the
other vessels So placed themselves above and
f. low rs 10 command the entire river front.
Along the icvot. close to the river, were coll
lecupn7 OF people, who waved their hand
kcrchIrls and
CHELEED WITH WELCOME
the incoming Federal vessels. Back on the
city front squads Of Confederate soldiers
would occasionally fire into the people who
were welcoming the Union vessels, some of
their shots reaching the gunboats in the
river.
The excitement on shore was intense. De
struction was going on with all the determi-
nation possible on the part of the Confcder-
ate officers, the poorer classes working
through the crowd trying to save from de-
strUction anything eatahle. Piles of cotton
bales, scattered for miles along the Ievce,
were burning filling the air with clouds of
smoke and the peculiar smell of burning
cotton. EIog-heads of sugar aud barrels Of
mOlasses were knocked 10 pieces by the
thousand, and their contents spread rs
widely rs possible Everything that IN the
minds of the Confederate authorities could
aid the Union troops in any way was
promptly destroyed, without regard to the
halEstIrving thousands in their midst
An Immediate demand had been madc for
the surrender Of the city by Farragut, but
every ingenious and plausible excuse possi-
bic had been made use of 10 prolOng the
actual surrender, so "a to get time 20 send
off by the Jackson Railroad, the only
opening left, all of the quartermlsteF and
C0muissary stores that could be gathered
mp in the city Train after train was loaded
and dispatched out into the Coniederagy,
while delay was gained by diSputing as TO
Who had the power To- Capitulate the city,
Gen. Lowell commanding the Department,
or Mayor Monroe. ruler OF the city. At last,
tired OF the wrlugle, Commodore Farragut
issued his iiuaiity, that, q" will give you = s
hours to remove the women aud children,
and then, if not surrendered, viii open the
guns of my feet upon y0u.'
TIE CITY WAS GIVEN UP,
I but not until the large Confederate force
uHdcrGen Lowell was departing, The formal
/ ity Of the surrender was gone through with
/ sometime before any Of the land forces ar
rived. 4 squad of marines run up flags
upon the Cust0m-h0use and Mint in token
| Of victory. 1t is matter Of history that o
I few desperate characters tore down the iag
from the Mint and tina. one Of them suffered
dta-h in consequence.
The delay OF the infantry was caused by
the holding ont of Forts Jackson and s.
Philip several days after the fleet run by
As soon rs the forts surrendered the troops
were pushed forward rs fast as steam could
take them.
Several days after the surrender, about
the lst of May, the infantry commenced
landing through the slush already spcker
Of As we landed we formed into line and
marched back from the leyce toward the
Custom-house. The people stood in crowd
here and there watching our entrance. The
poorer classes had relieved and rather
pleased look, while the better-dressed ones
had an extra wrinkle or two at the corner
OF the eyebrow next to the nose and a tight
ened look about the mouth. as though the
dose had been hard one to swallow. Al
occasional drunken man would "IIurrah fO
jeff Davis and the Southern COnltderacy
At street corners we would hear such ex
pressions as Wait little, until yellow
Jack comes, and he will soon finish them
At another corner n man would say to hi
companion, an be dogg'd, Bill, if they ain
fine looking fellers; had plenty of grub,
reckon" Women holding up their babie
to look on the glistening bayOnets, at whicl
they would clap their little hands, brough
forth kindly expressions from our men, VIII
were mostly grum and silent. Thousand
upOn thousands of all classes of peOpl
seemed TO have known our route and line,
the banquette, but, as whole, quiet ant
undemOnstratlve.
We had gained by the pluck and darinI
of the navy an unheard-Of triumph-an ex
ample the like of which all previous histor
could not reproduce The great events Q
the last few days had almost paIalyzed tn
mass of people in the city-events whic
happened so fast they could hardly realiz
them. The surrender of the city to FarTa
! gut and of the forts to Porter, with tn
almost superhuman exertiOns Of the COnfed
crate authorities to take away or destro
everything eatabIe and to evacuate the plaC
with all the troops before the arrival of But
! lers infantry, had now reacted and produce
, lethargy which accepted, in grim submr
: sion, the fact that the Yankees
HAD CAPTURED NEW ORLEANS.
Thousands of the poorer classes had little {
+ no sympathy with the rebellion, and th
last acts of the Coniederates which deprive
, them of their daily bread by destruction b,
fore their eyes, only made them welcom
, the Union troops with more warmth an
l confidence. There were also many thou
sands of foreign subjects who, whether the
. were sincere or not, expressed themselves &
: delighted Mt the change, especially after the
found we had come to stay.
After marching a long distance thrOug
! quaint streets and by strangely-built house
!; that reminded us of pictures of foreign eli
5 ies-old smoky hip-roofs covered with Spar
l iSh tile, with dOrmer windows all tiled in
past clusters of long, fringy-lOoking leaves
date stems swaying in the breeze-past th
delicate light-green leaves of the young b:
> mana shooting up from the roots of the old
, past oleander and orange trees Overhangin
the street, with still some of the sour orang,
Q hanging on the trees-we at last reached ti
0 u. S. Mint 1t was the first good, dry, soil
and quiet quarters we had occupied sine
| leaving Baltimore, and we hastened to was
1 off the accumulatiOns of shipboard and the
" slept soundly until reveille sounded.
!. |
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